mapsource viewed map not the same when dl'ed to 60csx

[bushwacker]

hello, i downloaded the topo ak map and loaded it in mapsource. when i downloaded the map to my 60csx it did not look anything like the map in MS. the color is different, the islands don't have names, no names on the bodies of water, etc. the MS map just looked cleaner and sharper. It is not the basemap. any info would be appreciated.

[Boyd]

The GPS and Mapsource always render the maps in different styles, especially with older models like the 60csx. Map colors on the 60csx screen look sort of washed out. There are some settings that control what is labeled however, press menu > menu >setup > map and then look at the different settings under each of the icons at the top of the screen. Set map detail to most under the "N" icon, try some different zoom levels for map pionts, street label and land cover inder the flag icon and make sure text size is not set to none for all the items under the "T" icon.

That's about all you can do. There will always be differences in appearance. Newer models are a bit more like the Mapsource display, but there will still be differences.

[bushwacker]

thanks for the reply. i can understand the gps not displaying as well as my pc but this is not a washed out color problem.

color wise, the map on MS has the mountains/elevation in light green. the flat city area is displayed white and light yellow, but on the gps ALL the land masses are an orangish brown color. still no names on islands or on bodies and areas of water.

is this a 60csx limitation or is this because of the type of map i dl'ed? if i purchased a map from garmin would it give me the results i am looking for or would that map omit island names and names of bodies of water too?

thanks for the tips on display. my first gps.

[Boyd]

The 60csx is nearly 10 year old technology (with the exception of the gps receiver chips, the rest of the unit is basically the same as the original GPSMap 60). It cannot display shaded terrain like the newer model Garmin units. However, third party maps from this site do not include shaded terrain anyway because there are no third party tools to create it, so I'm a little confused by your description. Real Garmin maps do include shaded terrain.

What you describe may just be landcover shading, which 3rd party maps can include, and this should show on your unit. But again, I would say that due to the 60csx screen, it always appears very differently. Try this experiment: download and run Garmin's xImage program while connected to your GPS and take a screenshot. Look at the screenshot on your computer. I think you will be surprised how different it actually looks to the eye on the 60csx screen. This is just due to the limitations of the 60csx LCD panel. Ximage may be found here: http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=545

As for the other things.... "it is what it is" and if my suggestions above don't help, I don't think there's anything else you can do. I have had a 60csx for 5 years and and Oregon for 3 years. Maps on the device NEVER look like the same map in Mapsource.

[bushwacker]

hi boyd, thanks for the time to answer my questions. not trying to beat a dead horse here.

i've include a couple of pics of what i'm seeing. if this is as good as it gets, so be it.

the "shot" from my gps is taken with ximage. the only diff is the land being yellow, the land is orange on my gps.

thanks.

[Boyd]

Those screenshots seem to be of different areas, so I can't compare them. However I can categorically tell you that NO Garmin GPS will render the map the same as the Mapsource screenshot you posted. It's frustrating, but that's just the way it is.

[maps4gps]

The light green was used to indicate public lands, i.e. parks, forests, etc.  It does not indicate forest vegetation vs non-forest.  
The yellow background in the Garmin advertising and screen shots created with Ximage is a distortion of the GPSr's tan/orange background.  There were numerous 'complaints' to Garmin about this 4-5 years ago; their only comment was that there was no way to change it.   If it was deliberate for sales purposes or a  true  limitation of the technology the buyers and map authors have to live with it.

[bushwacker]

ahhh... i see. ok my color question is clarified. thanks.

but why are the names of islands e.g. deadmans island in MS labeled along with anchorage and points, but not in gps? the lettering is blue in MS, does that indicate anything as far a it being transferable to the gps or not? or is this just a limitation of the gps too? if so, what model would be able to display those things?

boyd, that is the same area, you just need to rotate MS image 90 clockwise.

thanks for the answers.

[maps4gps]

As Boyd previously mentioned, look at the various label catagories and settings.  The built-in logic Garmin uses to determine label display settings and locations likely is different in MS and the GPSr.